The College Classroom collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu Peter Newbury Fall 2013

1. What do you
notice?
What do you
wonder?
(All images by ttrentham on flickr CC)
1

2. Week 3: Developing Expertise
The College Classroom
October 15 and 17, 2013

3. Deliberate practice [1]
3
 activity that’s explicitly intended to improve
performance
 that reaches for objectives just beyond one’s level of
competence
 provides feedback on results
 involves high levels of repetition
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4. 10,000 hours
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Wayne Gretzy (Image: Wikimedia Commons CC)
Serena Williams (Image by Carine06 on flickr CC)
Tiger Woods (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
Expertise Development
4
4 hours/day
deliberate practice

5. There’s something about this that
bothers me: a 5-foot NBA star? Huh?
1. If it’s bothering me, then it’s probably
bothering some of my students.
2. Maybe one of my students has a
solution or explanation – their
diversity is an asset
3. How can I stimulate a conversation
for everyone in the classroom rather
than the few who would raise their
hands if I asked?
5
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6. Clicker question
6
With 10,000 hours of deliberate practice, a 5-ft tall
man can be a basketball star in the NBA.
A) true
B) false
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7. Clicker question
7
With 10,000 hours of deliberate practice, a 5-ft tall
man can be a basketball star in the NBA.
A) totally true – I’m so sure about this, I could stand up
in class and convince everyone
B) maybe true – I think it’s true but I’m not exactly sure
why
C) maybe false – I think it’s false but I’m not exactly
sure why
D) absolutely false – I’m so sure about this, I could
stand up in class and convince everyone
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8. 8
Certainly some important traits are partly inherited, such
as physical size and particular measures of intelligence,
but those influence what a person doesn’t do more than
what he does; a five-footer will never be an NFL lineman,
and a seven-footer will never be an Olympic gymnast.
Geoffrey Colvin [1]
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9. Tip Sheet: Perfect Practice [1]
9
1
3
5
Approach each critical task with an explicit
goal of getting much better at it.
As you do the task, focus on what’s happening and
2
why you’re doing it the way your are.
After the task, get feedback on your performance from
multiple sources. Make changes in your behavior as necessary.
Continually build mental models of your situation –
4 your industry, your company, your career. Enlarge the
models to encompass more factors.
Do these steps regularly, not sporadically. Occasional
practice does not work
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10. In a moment but not yet, each table will discuss how one tip is revealed
in your fields of expertise. Use the whiteboard to capture ideas. One
person on the table will present the ideas to the class.
10
1
3
5
Approach each critical task with an explicit
Prompts students to
goal of getting much better at it.
listen to entire set of
As you do the task, focus on what’s happening and
2
instructions way you
why you’re doing it thebefore are.
After the task, getbeginning. your performance from
feedback on [2]
multiple sources. Make changes in your behavior as necessary.
Continually build mental models of your situation –
Students company, your career. Enlarge the
put their finished ideas on
4 your industry, your
models to poster paper. Whiteboards can
encompass more factors.
(should!) be used Occasional
Do these steps regularly, not sporadically. to capture
practice does not work thinking along the way.
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11. Intelligence is grown
11
Dr. Carol Dweck – Stanford
Shown that convincing people to adopt a “growth
mindset” (not “fixed mindset”) leads to higher GPAs,
higher graduation rates. [See Week 7: Fixed/Growth]
Dr. Anders Ericcson – Florida State Univ.
Studies development of expertise (sports figures,
pianists, chess players). Expertise is not an innate trait,
it is developed through
 Long (10,000 hours)
 Daily (4 hours a day)
 Deliberate Practice
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12. Part 2:
Teaching the development of expertise

13. Development of Mastery [3]
13
Behavior
conscious
unconscious
incompetent
competent
Level of Expertise
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14. Development of Mastery [3]
14
Behavior
Wait! When introducing
conscious
a graph for the first time,
explain the “architecture” of
the graph before addressing
the data and message it
unconscious
contains. competent
incompetent
Level of Expertise
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15. Development of Mastery [3]
15
incompetent
competent
Level of Expertise
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16. Development of Mastery [3]
16
Behavior
conscious
unconscious
adikko.deviantart.com
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17. Development of Mastery [3]
17
Behavior
conscious
unconscious
incompetent
competent
Level of Expertise
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18. Development of Mastery [3]
18
Behavior
conscious
1
unconscious
incompetent
competent
Level of Expertise
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19. Development of Mastery [3]
19
conscious
Behavior
2
1
unconscious
incompetent
competent
Level of Expertise
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20. Development of Mastery [3]
20
conscious
Behavior
2
3
1
unconscious
incompetent
competent
Level of Expertise
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21. Development of Mastery [3]
21
conscious
3
1
4
incompetent
competent
Behavior
2
unconscious
Level of Expertise
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22. Development of Mastery [3]
22
conscious
3
1
4
incompetent
competent
Behavior
2
unconscious
Level of Expertise
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23. Why Students Don’t Understand
Your Lectures
23
Expert brains differ from novice brains because novices:
 lack rich, networked connections: they cannot make
inferences, cannot reliably retrieve information
 have preconceptions that distract, confuse, impede
 lack automization, resulting in cognitive overload


“Comparing Students’ and Experts’ Understanding of
the Content of a Lecture” [4]
“Why should I use peer instruction in my class?” [5]
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24. Think about the house you grew up in
24
How many windows?
As you counted the windows, did you see them
from the outside or from the inside of the house?
Did you magically teleport from room to room
or did you imagine walking there?
Constructivism says, “Of course it’s hard for the
professor to explain things so students can understand:
the professor has different pre-existing knowledge.”
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25. “different pre-existing knowledge”
and motivation
25
The discovery that students don't love the new teacher's
content area is one of those school of hard knock
lessons. Graduate education reinforces the centrality of
discipline-based content knowledge. Having immersed
themselves in its study for years and having been
surrounded with colleagues equally enamored with the
area, new faculty arrive at those first teaching jobs no
longer objective about how the rest of the world views
their content domain.
Maryellen Weimer [6]
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26. The next time you teach a course, what will you
do to get your students to do these things?
26
1
3
5
Approach each critical task with an explicit
goal of getting much better at it.
As you do the task, focus on what’s happening and
2
why you’re doing it the way your are.
After the task, get feedback on your performance from
multiple sources. Make changes in your behavior as necessary.
Continually build mental models of your situation –
4 your industry, your company, your career. Enlarge the
models to encompass more factors.
Do these steps regularly, not sporadically. Occasional
practice does not work
collegeclassroom.ucsd.edu
#tccucsd

27. Deliberate Practice Findings: for you
27
 Reach for objectives JUST beyond where you are:


Work on incrementally harder problems.
Try variations on ones from class, homework, quizzes.
 Practice consistently (every day)

And practice a LOT
 Get FEEDBACK on your practice

Or at least self-analyze “continuously observing results, making
appropriate adjustments”
 What to practice?

Maybe harder, but exam questions (if they are understandable)
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28. your
Deliberate Practice Findings: for students
you
28
 Reach for objectives JUST beyond where you are:
Set


Work on incrementally harder problems.
Try variations on ones from class, homework, quizzes.
 Practice consistently (every day)

And practice a LOT
Give
 Get FEEDBACK on your practice

Or them to
helpat least self-analyze “continuously observing results, making
appropriate adjustments”
 What to practice?

Maybe harder, but exam questions (if they are understandable)
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29. Big Question
29
Where does the motivation
to engage in deliberate
practice come from?
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30. 30
Next week: Learning Outcomes
Watch the blog for next week’s
readings and assignments
 short paper
 math worksheet
 read resources about teaching statements
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31. References
31
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Colvin, G. (2006, October 19). What it takes to be great. Fortune, 88- 96. Available at
money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/10/30/8391794/index.htm
Cummings, M. In a Moment, But Not Yet. Retrieved October 14, 2013 from
http://store.training-wheels.com/inmobutnotye.html
Sprague, J., & Stuart, D. (2000). The speaker’s handbook. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt
College Publishers.
Hrepic, Z., Zollman, D.A., & Rebello, N.S. (2007) Comparing Students’ and Experts’
Understanding of the Content of a Lecture. Journal of Science Education and Technology
16, 213-224.
Available at http://ksuperg.blogspot.com/2009/06/hrepic-zollman-rebello-journalof.html
Newbury, P. (2011, June 15) Why should I use peer instruction in my class? Available at
www.peternewbury.org/2011/06/why-should-i-use-peer-instruction-in-my-class/
Weimer, M. (2010). New Faculty: Beliefs That Prevent and Promote Growth, in the book
Inspired College Teaching: A Career-Long Research for Professional Growth. San Francisco,
Jossey-Bass. (Reprinted in Tomorrow’s Professor email Newsletter October 15, 2013)
Available at
http://cgi.stanford.edu/~dept-ctl/cgi-bin/tomprof/posting.php?ID=1279
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32. Based on Biology and Expertise:
How do we support learning?
32




Spaced engagement (time to rest between sessions)
Repeated, effortful testing (not passive studying)
Appropriate-level tasks
Expert, detailed, frequent feedback
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33. Students in UCSD CSE course
(Beth Simon, heavy use of peer instruction with clickers)
33
Couldn’t you PLEASE just tell it to me?
I know how to learn from lecture!
Can’t you just explain it?
Well, clickers were fun, but the professor made me learn
it myself! It would have been easier if she’d just lectured!
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